Uroboros
by Subject to Change
Summary: Renko has succeeded in stopping his past self from saving Demichev's life, putting the timeline back in order. But has he really? Or has he only started a chain of events he'll never escape from? edited chapter 2 up!
1. Beginning With the End

The sweat rolled down his forehead, the smoke made it hard to breathe, and his hands shook as he looked down the barrel of the centurion. Soon, he knew it would be soon...and right on schedule _he _appeared through the door at the end of the hall, carrying the man that would ruin the world. Was this really the only way? Couldn't he just put a bullet in Demichev, set things back to the way they were supposed to be? Of course not, no matter how many times he shot the bastard, he always seemed to come back through some stroke of luck.

_He _was halfway down the hall now, making a good pace as _he_wove around flames and debris. Renko had known it would be hard to pull the trigger, even as he stepped through the portal, damning himself to death one way or the other. The memory of the man that had screamed out back when _He _had been him, carrying Demichev down that smoky hallway. The memory seemed to repeat in his head once more, the man screaming _"Renko, Demichev must die!" _right before the roof collapsed on his head. Back then he'd been too absorbed in saving the man on his back to recognize his own face...oh how things would be different if he had.

No time to reminsce, he had to focus now, the fate of many sat on his shoulders. _He _was drawing close now, Renko could make _his _face out through the smoke. His finger tightened on the trigger, tears rose in his eyes, maybe brought on by the smoke, but he knew better. Everything he'd gone through since crashing on this cursed island had caused fear to be ever present...but at least there was a chance he'd survive...doing this, Renko knew there was no way to escape death. He'd run out of time, all puns intended.

_He _was turning the corner now, barely a foot away, Renko could see Demichev swaying on _his _back. It was now or never. If he failed maybe _he _would finish the job properly...how many had there been before him? One? Two? Three? A hundred? How many Renkos had stood where he stood now, praying for another way out yet knowing there wasn't?

_Will it hurt?_

He looked down the barrel of the centurion once more, fighting the urge to yell out before he pulled the trigger and watched as _he _fell forward onto _his_knees, Demichev slipping out of _his _hands onto the floor that was steadily being consumed by flames.

"I'm sorry-" everything went white as Renko ceased to exist.

* * *

And then there was Devlin and the sound of a helicopter. It was startling to just suddenly be sitting there, across from the man he'd seen murdered not more than a day ago...or was it from now? What exactly had just happened? His thoughts were cut short by a voice in his earpiece.

"Hammer two one, red fleet actual, you are now entering Katorgatwelve airspace." he turned his head to watch as the other helicopter veered to the left, drawing closer to the island before straightening out to keep parallel with the helicopter Renko and Devlin sat in.

He knew this scene...he'd lived it not so long ago. It worked...somehow killing Demichev had sent him back to before the EMP pulse had downed both helicopters, stranding Renko on the island of the damned the russians had code named Katorga 12. The EMP pulse! There he sat in the helicopter, same as that fateful night...would it happen again? Had killing Demichev only sent him back to the beginning of the story? Would he be cursed to relive the same two days over and over again, always ending it with the beginning?

"I don't know why they keep making us do this run." Devlin's voice cut through Renko's thoughts. "It's not like we ever see anything." Renko shrugged and Devlin turned to look back out of the side of the helicopter, at the island that was beautiful if viewed from a distance. "Military intelligence," Devlin snorted. "What a joke."

Renko nodded then turned to take in the view. If the EMP pulse hit, it would hit soon. He searched the island's shores, watching and waiting...until it caught his attention.

"What?" he nearly gasped as the helicopter sped past the massive statue of Viktor Barisov, wearing the little device that had saved Renko's life more than once, the TMD-Time Manipulation Device, on his wrist.

"I know," Devlin said, turning from the statue to Renko. "I never get tired of seeing that."

This was wrong, that statue...this was impossible! But was it? A few days ago time travel and mutated monsters had been impossible until he'd crash landed on an island where both were prevalent. Was anything else different? Was _He _any different? A quick inspection, which brought on an awkward look from Devlin, showed that there was nothing drastically altered. His skin color, his face (as far as he could feel) was the same as it had always been, save for the scar on his right forearm...that was new. A statue, a scar...what else had changed? Were his parents still his parents, did he still have a girlfriend? Where did he live now?

"Hammer two one," the voice in his ear knocked him out of his internal hysterics. "Hammer two one, false alarm. Repeat, false alarm." Renko and Devlin shared a questioning glance before the voice continued. "Your mission has been scrubbed, head on home."

Devlin smirked. "Ha, what'd i tell ya? There's never anything interesting here, right comrade?" the last two words were like a blow to the chest for Renko.

Maybe it was just a cheap joke? Being close to Russia and all that...maybe it was just Devlin being a smartass?

"You okay?" Devlin cocked an eyebrow as he noticed the concerned look on Renko's face. "Getting airsick?"

Renko started to shake his head then thought better of it and nodded. "Yeah." he grunted, putting a hand over his stomach. "That or breakfast." what was he supposed to do now? Barisov...what had he done? For some reason he was reminded of a message scrawled on a long forgotten wall. _Don't trust Barisov_. Who had written that message? Had...had this happened before too? Was he just another Renko that failed to set the timeline on the correct path? Was he going to end up writing that message? How many times had this happened now? How many more times would it happen?

"Red fleet, this is hammer two one." the voice cut Renko's thoughts short once again. "I'm picking up two bogies south of our position...is anyone else out here?"

"One moment hammer two one."

"Shit." Devlin sighed. "Maybe we're gonna see some action after all." he started checking his rifle and only now did Renko recognize it as a variation of the valkyrie. The design was a little more refined, the barrel a bit shorter, but it was definitely a valkyrie, the gun that had saved his life more than once.

"Hammer two one, we have nothing stationed out near your postion." red fleet responded.

"Orders?" the pilot flying the helicopter asked.

"Investigate."

"That was what we were sent out here to do, wasn't it?" Devlin shook his head. "Probably the chinese."

"Why do you say that?" Renko asked, extremely curious to learn about the state of the world. While he didn't relish the thought of a russian controlled world...maybe it wouldn't be so bad? Perhaps Barisov had brought upon world peace? Who was to say the timeline he'd grown up in was the best one?

Devlin snorted. "You sure you're okay comrade? You're not looking so great-"

Renko waved the concern away. "Yeah yeah, now tell me why you think this is the Chinese."

"...because they've been looking for a way onto katorga twleve since before the war started," War? Well there goes world peace. "you of all people should know that." Devlin squinted and leaned forward. "Seriously, you're looking pale...you-" alarms stopped Devlin mid-sentence. "What the hell?"

Renko turned to look out of the helicopter, eyes widening. "Missile!" he yelled. "Brace for impact!" no...not again. If it wasn't an EMP pulse it was a missile...if not a missile, then what? An entire fleet of helicopters? A bird in the rotor? The pilot falling asleep? Was he damned to always crash?

"Shit!" Devlin yelled as the missile downed the other helicopter. "Who the hell is firing at us?" the missile lock alarm went off in their own helicopter. "No...oh no!"

"There are boats in the water." the pilot said calmly. "They're flying the stars and stripes." the helicopter veered sharply and Renko nearly fell out of the side, barely noticing as the missile flew past the helicopter's tail.

"American resistance...do they ever give up?" Devlin sneered. "How the hell did they get past our other patrols?"

"Red fleet, this is hammer two one, requesting assistance." the pilot radioed. "Red fleet, i repeat, this is-" the missile lock alarm sounded off again. "HANG ON!"

Renko could see the boats in the water now and the missile, rapidly growing closer. The helicopter veered sharply to the left once more and this time it was Devlin who nearly fell out.

"That was too close." Devlin snapped, gripping his seat tightly. "Get us out of here!" he yelled at the pilot. "Now!"

"Orders are to neutralize any-"

"Fuck orders, if we don't get out of here we're going to get shot out of the sky!" Renko snapped, the events of the last few days finally catching up to him. He was so tired...and he didn't relish the prospect of reliving the horror of Katorga twelve again, regardless of how the world had turned out.

The alarm sounded once more and once more the helicopter started to veer, but this time it wasn't enough and before Renko knew what was happening he was gasping for air and drawing nothing but lungfuls of water.


	2. Pulled Back

Renko's vision was blurry, his entire body felt like it had been run over by a tank, he couldn't move, and something was grunting in his ear. Were the situation different he might have been inclined to make a joke about being tied down, but the slowly sinking flaming wreck of the helicopter in the distance and the sound of a boat nearby told him that spouting one liners was the last thing to do.

"Where..." was all he could manage at the moment. As his senses came back into focus he realized he was being pulled and that something was wrapped around his arms. With a grunt he managed to slip out of his bonds, an action he instantly regretted as he began to sink like a stone. Panic set in and he screamed, filling his mouth with water. He looked up towards the surface of the water and noticed a silhouette against the dim light of the helicopter wreckage. It approached and wrapped its arms around him before slowly pulling him back to the surface.

"Damn it Renko..." the silhouette gasped as he pulled Renko's head above water. "You scared the shit out of me...i thought you were dead." Devlin? He'd survived the crash again? Should Renko have really been surprised?

"...Not...yet..." Renko croaked. The dim light coming from the fire of the helicopter gave Renko a good look at his comrade's face. It was indeed Devlin, a battered and bloody Devlin, but still Devlin.

_No, not exactly. He's A Devlin, but he's not the one i knew. _

Still, russian soldier or no, he'd managed to save Renko's life and that had to count for something.

"Good, let's try and keep it that way." Devlin's voice was strained. Surviving a helicopter crash and lugging Renko around the ocean had to be hell. "It won't be long before we hit shore...maybe we can find a working radio, anything that could get us into contact with red fleet. I'm getting too much interference on mine, might've been damaged in the crash...what about yours?"

While Renko loathed the idea of going back to the island he knew they would have to get there to wait for pickup anyway...and as long as he was there he could just pop back into the past and put things in order. "Nothing..." he lied. He regretted the lie instantly. Sure he could go back into the past again...but he didn't know what exactly had happened. What he had to fix in order to set things straight.

_Barisov...it had to be him._

Not very far away Renko could make out the sound of a boat, occasionally a voice would cut above the hum of the motor. The american resistance...what the hell had happened? Barisov had somehow constructed the TMD and taken over the world...or at least led communist russia against the united states, possibly winning. But Demichev was dead, Katorga 12 should have been shut down. How did any of this happen!

_Wait, shore?_

"Shore?" oh god no, he was really going back...why couldn't he have died in the crash?

"Katorga 12." the word's were a knife through the heart. It was one thing to think about going back, another to be literally pulled onto the island with no other alternative, save a bullet in the head courtesy of the american resistance. "Now be quiet, those demmie bastards don't know where we are and i didn't survive a helicopter crash and a half hour of pulling you through these frigid waters to get gunned down because you talked too much and gave our position away." Devlin hissed each word into Renko's ear.

Renko strained to turn without upsetting Devlin's hold on him, hoping to see just how far away the island was. God it was close, a few minutes away at the most. The clouds parted and the moonlight silhouetted the singularity, making the island into some sort of cliche forboding picture usually found on the cover of cheesy horror movies. Only this was real life and somehow the mad scientist and the monsters were real. Starring Nate Renko as the unwitting soldier damned to play along...forever.

* * *

Devlin pulled Renko up onto a rocky outcropping before finally letting him go. "Damn you're heavy." Devlin let out a sigh as he leaned back into the rocks. "If you think i'm carrying you around any more you've got a big disappointment coming in the near future."

Renko shifted until the rocks he was laying on top of stopped trying to tear through his uniform. "I'll be fine in a minute." he said, ignoring the pain traveling the length of his body before stopping to kick him in the head.

In the distance they could see a spotlight scanning the water. The american resistance still thought they were in the water...good, it gave them a head start.

"Renko," Devlin hissed. "I'm going to scout ahead-"

He was shocked by the sudden fear that rose up in him. "Don't leave me here!" he hadn't meant to yell, it had just come out.

"Shh, Shh," Devlin moved down onto the rocks next to Renko. "I'll only be gone a minute, don't worry." he hissed. "Stay calm and take this-" he unholstered a gun, not unlike the centurion, and placed it in Renko's hand. "If they get too close take as many of them as you can, just remember to save a bullet for yourself." the words were a reminder lit in big red neon letters: This was not the Devlin he knew. The man he knew would never have suggested something like that, no matter how grim the situation. No man left behind.

Still, Renko managed a nod and that seemed enough for the communist version of Devlin who promptly began the climb up the rocks onto the actual island.

It seemed like an eternity...waiting...waiting...he was so tired...how easy it would be to rest his eyes for just a moment.

"There's someone on the rocks!" the voice startled Renko out of a slumber he hadn't been aware had overtaken him. "Get a light on the fucking rocks, now!" and then he went blind as the spotlight hit him. "Got a survivor!" someone else yelled. "Drop him before he radios for help!" another said.

"Wait-" Renko started and then there was a familiar feeling in the air and his plea stopped short. Every hair on his body seemed to stand on end, his fillings rattled and the ground seemed to be vibrating.

The people on the boat screamed, a few splashes told Renko some had even jumped overboard. He turned around and there it was...the...bubble...speeding towards him. Rushing out from the center of the island almost as if to embrace him, to say "welcome back to the island old friend, it's been too long".

He went blind once more as he was engulfed in the power of the singularity. When his vision returned everything had changed. The sun was setting, birds flew overhead and the resistance boat had been replaced with another...one Renko was very familiar with.

_The Pearl._


End file.
